Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY WINNERS

November 3, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

YAY!! Winners time.

Thanks for getting involved gang, always great to read your stories. On to the WINNERS.

Portia xx

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Amalfi lemon, orange, dried fruits
Heart: Jasmine, rose, tea
Base: Musk, holly, amber

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml Un Zeste de Rose decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about a rose fragrance that wins you over, or a memory of someone who wore one well

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3je Les Parfums de Rosine GIVEAWAY #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 2nd November 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen LifestyleSolutions

Carolyn Kubea

Willa

The winners will have till Thursday 6th November 2014 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Sacred Frankincense 1 by JoAnne Bassett 2014 + Interview

November 2, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Einsof

Hello Junkies!

My name is Einsof (eye-n-s’off) and I’d like to share a fusion of styles, mysticism and perfume with you. I recently sat down with botanical perfumer JoAnne Bassett to explore her Sacred Frankincense Collection. It comes as no surprise that speaking with JoAnne is rather like listening to your favorite Tori Amos album in that you’re going to be subject to impromptu voyages into spirituality, reincarnation and a host of muses both sacred and sensual.

“Working with some absolutes blocks the energy.” A typical Bassett-ism, there is nothing within JoAnne’s work which does not reach out to some higher purpose, “They can make the purpose of a perfume muddy, unclear or the energy simply stops flowing.” Her technical approach is intimately entwined with a higher calling. The word ‘exquisite’ floats around the room as perhaps the only synonym for the art of her craft.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

These moments of revelation come as leaned-in, quieter tones from the sprite-like intuitive perfumer. “In the room where I blend,” JoAnne begins another such secret telling, “I have a lot of help. The plant devas, divine energies, indigenous wisdoms… and love come together in there.” After working with several clients in Saudi Arabia and parts Middle East, it seems the consummate queen of French style perfumery had found a new ‘sound’ in the voice of the Djin. “I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror- do you know I had no idea who was standing there. This energy was insistent.”

The common thread of the collection is hydro-distilled frankincense sacra from Oman and a heavy dose of the harem and Middle Eastern magic. Calling upon her extensive collection of vintage essential oils, home grown botanicals she dedicatedly tinctures and newer players such as CO2 extracted butter — JoAnne has crafted a bridge between the refined classic European perfumery with the attar laden East where aroma was ritual, “…I like the idea of worlds, old and new merging; the evolution of the raw material all in one glance.”

Sacred Frankincense 1 by JoAnne Bassett 2014

The collection is Royal Alchemy Collection, the perfume is Sacred Frankincense 1

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Olibanum, moroccan rose, elemi, peru balsam, lavender, artemisia, yuzu, chamomile, lime (linden blossom

Upon application there is an immediate sense of an apricot orchard, and familiar notes; lavender & peru balsam are waving from deep within the grove. Elemi, yuzu and linden greet you with childlike glee and beckon you into the rows. Throughout wear, chamomile softened cabbage rose and rose absolute exchange faces like JoAnne and her Muses in the mirror- sometimes you can distinguish between notes and sometimes there is a completely new being in your presence.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

In the center of the forest- a clearing where all flora and fauna come to pay tribute to frankincense. The jus rests here for a moment (another interesting facet of the JoAnne’s Djinic journey is a change in tempo for unfolding of the perfume)- it seems to be the moment when the florals take their final melding with the resins in preparation for dry down. Every note seems to pop out from behind a puff of frankincense- and this complex dance of synergy continues for some time.

After about 3 hours of play in this enchanted forest, you realize you may be just dancing in the mirage of the desert as a luxurious.. exquisite…dry down of softened peru balsam, rose and davana have left only a soft but definitely resinous waft of the dervishes whirling through my nose and mind. This skin souvenir will continue for hours, even though reapplication is the way of the truly natural.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

“I don’t quite understand,” JoAnne says genuinely surprised, taken aback even, “Do people only pray once? Is that why they only want to spray once?” Of course, JoAnne considers the people who are attracted to her art as “Divine Clients, for whom the perfume is more than just aesthetic.” She recounts noting her observant clients wash their hands, and apply pleasing perfume (an intentional reason the client sought out JoAnne’s Custom Couture Perfume services)- a fragrant way of preparation for courting communication with the Divine.
It is in this capacity which JoAnne finds her true calling: to call upon lifetimes of aromatic memory in order assist, uplift, affect energy patterns and give genuine moments of satori to those who experience her craft. These moments of divine illumination are not meant to last… they are glimpses into our own heavenly natures.

“Do you know, I came from the world of the stock market… and I am still enriching people’s lives. What I can do for them from my blending room is not significantly different from what I did from behind a desk. I am here to be of service to my clients.” JoAnne left the stock floor to search the world’s gardens for the most exquisite, hand distilled oils and attars. Her reserve must equal that of the royalty she references in her art.

In the naturals world, JoAnne gives quite a show of sillage and longevity. There is nothing overly gendered about her work, only names and your nose will have any influence- perhaps a reason why the collection is numbered rather than titled. Sacred Frankincense 1 could be worn anywhere and everywhere. Truly this collection proves true that what is intimately sacred will make intimacy sacred- these pieces of olfactory art could be found as easily in the boudoir and on the altar.

Further reading visit the JoAnne Basset site
Shopping you can visit the JoAnne Bassett ETSY site

From JoAnne Bassett: Because there wasn’t a perfume giveaway I am offering a special sale on my website of the fragrances recently reviewed. http://joannebassett.com/natural_perfumes/2014/11/08/special-sale-on-joanne-bassett-natural-perfumes/

Has anyone tried JoAnne Bassett? What do you think when your favorite artist changes their style up? Is it interesting expansion or irritating aberration?

Much light,
Einsof

Making CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture Collection

November 2, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hiya Fragrant Fashionistas,

Here is a beautiful insight into the complete and utter hour intensive, old school, haute couture creation process. Every stitch and every bead must be done by hand, it is a failing art and ultimately extraordinarily expensive. Still done at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris above the flagship store, and if you are lucky you can see the staircase leading up to the atelier, and Coco’s rooms.

Making CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture Collection

Now under the direction of the incredible Karl Lagerfeld, the man who seems so much a part of CHANEL that it’s hard to remember the house before him for many of us. Personally I think he has carried the flag for CHANEL impeccably.

Enjoy the mini movie, I keep showing the CHANEL ones because they are often the best and most beautiful,

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Making-of the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture Collection

The Architects Club by Yann Vasnier for Arquiste 2014

November 1, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Melbourne, the 6th November in Peony Carlos Hubert will launch The architect’s club and a new L’Etrog. Contact Jill in the store for details!

Sydney, the 19th November for a Sydney Perfume Lovers Meetup

The Architects Club by Yann Vasnier for Arquiste 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

The Architects Club starts fresh, cool and billowing – soft vanilla, pith-like with orange and lemon rind that fizzes like its just been dropped into tonic. It crackles a little, peppery in nature, though not sharp, rather cushioned. Immediately I realize its firmly unisex. The next stage is tart, astringent. A London Gin cocktail gives a backbone of robust juniper berries.

There’s something slightly musty and resinous on the up – Amber, old books. My mind darts to member’s club lounge chairs –Chesterfields and the like, fireplace in the distance, no smoke, but woody wafts. I remember interiors of Home House and Royal Automobile Club in London – heritage listed clubs that mix stuffy and traditional with opulent, cool and modern. Modern food and drinks served with finesse in comfy rooms that feel like they hold much heritage. Even empty its possible to hear the chatter of times gone by in the high ceilings of these places. The odour of cigars still seems seeps from somewhere. A few women must have visited here wearing Shalimar, as vanilla continues to billow.

The scent of Hotel bars Claridge’s and The Berkeley are captured. “It’s a London thing” as They say and it’s one of the reasons to go there if you haven’t already.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

An astringent oak wood note and something herbal, almost aniseedic comes to my attention. I’m reminded of my favorite pub in Soho with its oak interior The French House, serving only half pints, as it’s “a Gentlemen’s Pub” even to this day. Looking up the notes I realize its pepperwood, oak and Guaicwood and clary sage giving a distinctive smell. It’s dapper and timeless. I can see it suiting an English Dandy from years ago to a man in a suit to this day off to work in Sydney.

Its distinctive, solid and luminously light, making it not too over bearing or strong for an office, and certainly comfortable. A balmy Amber fragrance. I rarely wear vanilla, but with the woods, herbs and juniper in balance, I’m enjoying the ride. It’s extremely wearable. You could wear it to work, and out after for an alfresco meal. Smart whilst hinting at fun.

Overall I’ve made myself homesick for London. Which is a good result, as where many fragrances claim to smell like London, this is the first one I have tried which actually transports me straight there.

Ainslie Walker x

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

October 31, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Heya gang,

Les Parfums de Rosine is sadly neglected, I’m not sure if its their dated packaging which frankly looks 1960s drug store, their bottles which go only with Tiffany lamps and antimacassars and remind me of lace curtains or the little cutesy curtain ties with fringy bobs. The fragrances are solid and delicious, interesting and sometimes boundary pushing. Michael fell madly in love with a couple of the men’s scents while we were at the flagship store in the Palais Royale in Paris and bought a couple of bottles, including their discontinued men’s extrait. Now Michael’s nose is impeccable, if he says the juice is good then you better believe it.

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Amalfi lemon, orange, dried fruits
Heart: Jasmine, rose, tea
Base: Musk, holly, amber

Citrus, fresh cut and cool; a slightly pithy cut that has a dried apricot overtone and already there is the bite of tea in fragrance when Un Zeste de Rose opens on my skin. A dryness that smells of loose leaf tea in the packet. This then is a softly peach-coloured tea scented rose with nuances of fruits and a green acerbic backdrop that doesn’t make me think of leaves but twig, cut twig or stem of a rose from the garden.Maybe this rose is headed for a vase in your house, it could be dewy or you could be smelling the cool water in your cut crystal rose bowl.

A rose full of fragrance, a lightly spicy tea scented rose through the heart and I am surprised that there is no honey mentioned in the notes. Maybe the honey factor comes through the amber/musk combination? I don’t know but it is smooth and lovely. Actually, there is a lovely creaminess to Un Zeste de Rose that is like a fresh green and cream, mmmmmmm.

Much younger and more youthful that their marketing suggests Un Zeste de Rose is crisp and light enough for everyday wear. Lasting power is good too but after about 2 hours Un Zeste de Rose wears very close to your skin, as soft as a body lotion.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Scent for Thought
First In Fragrance has €78/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Un Zeste de Rose is no huge groundbreaker but I think its creamy tea, honey and green-ness make it special. Extremely wearable and would make a great gift.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml Un Zeste de Rose decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about a rose fragrance that wins you over, or a memory of someone who wore one well

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3je Les Parfums de Rosine GIVEAWAY #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 2nd November 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 6th November 2014 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

My Perfume Samples – New Atomisers

October 31, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey there APJ Crew,

When I’m looking for mainstream, and some niche, fragrances my first stop will be My Perfume Samples. I love that they get cheaper if you buy more than 1ml, often by more than half! They are reliable, packaged beautifully and the range is really good of stuff you often can’t get at the niche sample stores.

My Perfume Samples – New Atomisers

The crew at My Perfume Samples have recently changed to plastic atomisers so I wrote asking why they would do this and if there had been appropriate testing done to make sure their precious cargo was not being contaminated. Here’s their response….

From My Perfume Samples: The plastic atomizers that we use are completely sterile and safe. The plastic used in our atomizers is food grade plastic. It has been approved to package water and food products so it is completely safe to hold the perfume that you will spray on your skin.
We tested the atomizers for several months, carrying samples in our bags, purses, storing in our vanities and a number of other places before introducing them to our customers. We wanted to be sure that the fragrances retained the same exact scent as when we decanted them into the sample bottle. Once we were able to confirm that the smell of the scent in all of our samples was retained over many months in a number of storage conditions we began using them to decant customer orders.
We do not re-use the atomizers on different scents and do not recommend refilling an atomizer with a scent different from the one originally decanted into it. Some customers have expressed success doing this and reuse the plastic atomizers with their own fragrances however, we have not tested this with the plastic or glass atomizers.
We believe the plastic atomizers to be superior to the glass that we previously used because they are food grade, easier to screw open and closed, have a wider mouth for refilling, the spray is more consistent and we have far less damage occurring in transit.

Here are some of their great prices:
Light Blue Femme by Dolce & Gabbana: $2/ml up to $7/5ml
Sensuous Nude by Estee Lauder: $2.50/ml up to $7.50/5ml
Tubéreuse Criminelle by Serge Lutens: $3.50/ml up to $10.50/5ml
Velvet Rose & Oud Cologne Intense by Jo Malone: $5/ml up to $15/5ml

I think those prices are incredibly reasonable.

Portia xx

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

October 30, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by FeralJasmine

Deep Soft Luxury: Mohur Extrait

Sometimes a perfume offers you access to a dream. Back in my distant 20s, when I was first getting serious about Indian cooking, I also had a farm and a Jersey cow named Lily, who flooded my kitchen with the freshest, creamiest milk, cream, and butter. During those distant days, I made a dessert that lives on in my memory even though I’ve never tried to duplicate it. It involved that morning’s rich milk cooked down very slowly with a tiny bit of rice until it thickened on its own, lightly sweetened, and lightly seasoned with saffron and rosewater. While it lasted, I savored a tiny cupful every day. I would sniff it for a long time before starting in on it. Mohur extrait reminds me of it.

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

Mohur Extrait by Bertrand Duchaufour

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, pepper, elemi
Heart: Iris, jasmine, rose, violet, almond, leather
Base: Sandalwood, amber, woody notes, patchouli, agarwood (oud), benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean

Does this mean that Mohur Extrait smells like a dessert? Not by a long shot. But it has similar notes and the same sense of an extraordinary luxury entering a workaday life. The rose is perfect. Not blowsy, not green and tight and ungiving, just caught at its peak of exquisiteness. The saffron smells very delicate and very real. I greatly dislike the chemical equivalent, saffraleine or whatever it’s called, and this smells more like the precious CO2 extract of pure saffron of which I have a tiny, treasured bottle. Vanilla and benzoin combine to make a soft, elegant bed for her majesty the rose to recline upon. Everything is in harmony, and nothing is overemphasized. The cardamom note is one of the subtlest, and loveliest, that I have experienced. This one shoots straight to the top of my list of rose favorites.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

I want to say more about my perception that some clean cream notes round out the scent. The combination of vanilla and benzoin and tonka often has creamy and buttery notes to me, and I want to emphasize that I am not talking about condensed-milk notes. In these benighted times, few people have experienced rich milk fresh from the cow, but the scent is clean, creamy, supple, with a note of lost childhood in it. If you haven’t smelled really fresh milk, I have no idea what you would compare this scent to. Perhaps the closest equivalent is really clean fresh hay combined with powder, hypnotic in a pleasantly dreamy rather than a narcotic way, like the most perfect summer afternoon.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Alembicated Genie and Colognoisseur
Neela Vermeire Creations has an email you can order from
LuckyScent has $465/50ml

I am an admirer of the Neela Vermeire Creations line, and this is the only line I can think of where I love every single scent. Probably nothing can knock my beloved Trayee off its pedestal. Mohur Extrait is a very different and equally bewitching thing. Try it. Simple as that.

FeralJasmine XX

Moon Dust by MiN New York 2014

October 29, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Trésor

All of my closest friends will tell you that I am particularly fond of nightfall. How with the sepulchral toll of the bell reverberating upon the witching hour my neurons electrify and I feel alive, in tune and illuminated by the muses once more. Along with this nightly revivisence comes an exquisite and pensive solace, a period of magnificent alleviation where I can be with my own thoughts and allow myself the time to experience a cherished potion who’s vapours are for my nose and my nose alone. It is now when I reach for the transcendent and beguilingly abstract and set off on a journey beyond corporeal manifestations. It is now when I reach for Moon Dust.

Moon Dust by MiN New York 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Leather, soil tincture, musk, benzoin

As you step out of the airlock and on to the ashen lunar terrain you are received by the unmistakable aroma of flint striking cold, galvanized steel and releasing a lambent display of sparks into the atmosphere. Glacial and mineralic, this sequence is in the same breath both galactic and so deeply familiar. Moments later your body is enraptured within the fluidic chill of water rushing through a labryinth of river rocks, polished like glass by eons of cosmic erosion. It is this phase in particular which brings tears to my eyes, the reminiscence of playing with rocks in the small brook nestled behind my grandparent’s home as a child. A simple memory of absolute peace and splendid joy.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

An almost iridescent haze of tobacco infuses the air and scintillates as if imbued by wet earth flecked with shards of precious, gleaming stone. It is an exquisite oscillation of a tangible, native realm and that of another dimension, one both rigidly industrial and poetic in its beauty. As you begin your descent back down to the Earthly dominion you can feel the brisk ozone of the stratosphere filling your lungs, an invigorating aurora and olfactory contrast I’ve never quite experienced before. As your feet finally rest upon terra firma a cloak of tarry, ink hued musk rises from the dust below and kisses you with lips lacquered with a candied nuance of benzoin. It is within this human aura that Moon Dust becomes evanescent and bids the senses a resplendent farewell.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

This fragrance is not so much a prototypical perfume as it is a conceptual olfactory expedition, defying convention while preserving an enigmatic enchantment that is only present within creations authored with a great deal of love and profound passion. If you are one who revels in the midst of an vanguard splendor I urge you to spend some time experiencing this contemporary aromatic landscape.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and What Men Should Smell Like
MinNY has $240/75ml

The vapours of Moon Dust are diffuse but not at all audacious, with a longevity of around 6 to 8 hours on my perfume devouring skin.

Trésor x

Lux + Nuit Noire by Mona di Orio (re-release) 2014

October 28, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen.

It is difficult to know where to start when there has already been so much written about these two fragrances. I will take the chance to inform those who don´t know that Lux and Nuit Noire are available again. They have been re-launched in their original formulas.

Mona di Orio (re-release) 2014: Signature Collection

Lux Mona di Orio- Sensual and erotic

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Mona di Orio gives these featured accords in one line (Press Release):
Sicilian lemon, litsea cubeba, bigarade petitgrain, Haitian vetiver, Mysore cedarwood, sandalwood, musk, amber, Siamese benzoin, Bourbon vanilla

Kicks off with a sparkling and delightful lemon. This is no cologne though. The development can be compared to throwing a pebble into the water. The immediate splash is the delicious citrus, but as the ripples spread, the vetiver appears and very slowly it takes us towards the most sensual vanilla and and earthy lemon with musks and amber and sandalwood swirling in along the way. Lux is Latin for light. It is also a stunning fragrance, turning from light into shadow and then back again to a warm soft lingering glow. Lux must be tried on the skin to experience the passionate journey that ensues. Lux is not too sweet, harmonizes beautifully and is absolutely stunning on a man.

Nuit Noire Mona di Orio- Lie me down and tether me tightly

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Mona di Orio gives these featured accords in one line (Press Release):
Orange flower, cardamom, ginger, orange, frankincense, cinnamon, tuberose, sandalwood, clove, cedarwood, amber, leather, musk, tonka

I would be careful about wearing this one in the office. The same applies if you have been diagnosed with a heart condition.

It is so hardcore in the first few moments, that you need to be careful not to inhale too deeply and thus risk droplets
hanging off of your nose hair. Indolic orange, skunky cardamom and hot ginger. It is quite thrilling. By the time you try to figure out what´s going on, it calms down into a warm seductive combination of tuberose and spices and you have a while to savour the experience. Slowly it moves on into musk, leather, tonka and amber. It is carnal, yet creamy
and velvety throughout. Nuit Noire will not be for all perfume lovers, but should be tried by as many who have the chance. Intoxicating, stimulating and über-feminine.

Photo Donated by Mona di Orio

The the newly designed black transluscent oval flacons just for Lux and Nuit Noire are very striking.

First In Fragrance has €140/75ml

Spending time with Jeroen Oude Sogtoen, co-founder and Creative Director of MdO was one of the highlights of 2014. His passion is inspiring. He buttons up his shirts and doesn´t pretend to be a perfumer.

Photo Donated by Mona di Orio

Much thanks to Jeroen and Henrike for their kindness in Florence.

Bussis
CQ

Catamara Rosarium of Rosarium Blends: Interview

October 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Azar

Catamara Rosarium is the perfumer, ritual artist, alchemist and master herbalist behind Rosarium Blends. She not only creates stunning, magical natural fragrances and incense but also offers an extensive line of philtres, salves, essential oils and related items as well as consultations on the Rosarium Blends websitehttp://rosariumblends.com/.

Photo Donated Catamara

I met Catamara and her partner, distiller and perfumer Marcus McCoy (House of Orpheus), at the second Annual Seattle Artisan Fragrance Salon in May. Catamara generously provided me with a number of samples to take home. I have fallen in love with her rich, energetic fragrances and will be writing more about them in the coming months.

Today it is my pleasure to ask Catamara a few questions for APJ.

I have been wondering about your background in alchemy, herbalism and magick. Did you grow up in the craft? When did you realize that you were drawn to these ancient arts and sciences?

I have been drawn to the craft since I was a young girl though I didn’t have any way to access any real information or know anyone who did until my late teens. I became profoundly immersed into various traditions from 1997 to present. My passion for making herbal concoctions began about 10 years ago and I’ve become deeply obsessed with the ancient arts and sciences involved with alchemy and the herbal arts ever since.

What does it mean to you to be a ritual artist?

I started using the term ‘ritual artist’ as a way I felt best described dance collaborations I was involved with in times past. I integrated tribal belly dance movement with the invocation of particular deities or god forms during the performance –therefore I wasn’t just belly dancing, I was invoking and embodying that energy as an integral part of the performance. The term ‘ritual artist’ has transmuted and has been more directly focused into my work in the plant kingdom. All of my formulas are created in a ritual setting during specific astrological elections, planetary hours and lunar cycles. Each product I create has specific energies I invoke ritually while concocting, drawn down into the matter to charge and assist in furthering the embodiment of the charm.

How does alchemy and your working knowledge of the elemental processes figure into the creation of your natural perfumes?

Every plant has specific energies that can be worked with magickally. My formulas are first determined by researching all plants and the lore that may be specifically related (in varying ways) to the formula I wish to create. I do not simply mix scents together because they smell good, I focus first on the energy I want to alchemicalize by combining what I know of each with the other. The process of knowing how much of each scent I select to blend thereafter is an intuitive process.

Your fragrances are created with the help of carefully crafted charms and powerful spiritual personalities and are designed to be used to manifest specific, life changing results. With that in mind do you consider your natural perfumes appropriate for everyone to enjoy casually as beautiful personal scents?

People are attracted to scent for a variety of reasons. When speaking to customers about which blends they are drawn to (before knowing what it was designed for), I often find them to be pleasantly surprised when they learn of the meaning and how it applies in their current life circumstances. While my blends are carefully crafted for various purposes, they will work with great success if worn with intention and on a subtle level. Otherwise I do believe they can be enjoyed and worn casually, and believe that if someone is attracted to the scent it is likely they will appreciate the effects as well.

Can you describe your relationships with green intelligence and the spirits of the plant kingdom? Do disciplines like vegetalismo and curanderismo figure into your work as a perfumer?

Each plant has an intelligence or genii connected to it, is a great teacher, and there is a myriad of ways to connect with them. My relationship is that of a student and they direct me in which ways to work with them. My work with Vegetalismo has introduced me to perfumes shamans work with during ceremony, of which my partner and I have created two blends inspired by this, ‘Agua de Palo Santo’ and ‘Agua de Flora’. Curanderismo factors in by my emphasis on creating blends that have a psycho-spiritual healing effect to cause change.

I have been enjoying the beautiful photos of your “poison garden” on facebook. (Poison gardens remind me of the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story “Rappaccini’s Daughter”.) As a gardener I am well aware that at least half of the plants I cultivate are poisonous. These plants are, for the most part, simply protecting themselves with alkaloids, saponins etc. Why do you maintain a poison garden and what have you learned from keeping a garden devoted specifically to poisonous plants?

I have always been drawn to the beauty, blessing and bane of those plants that are deemed ‘poisonous’. I love sitting with them through all cycles of their life, during the day and nighttime hours in communion and meditation. I am fascinated by the complexity of their blooms, seeds, roots, thorns, leaves, vines, etc, each with purpose. I believe everything is a poison and can harm you in excess. The poison garden requires deep respect, honor, intuition and knowledge.

As a self described “Sorcerous, Hermetic, Alchemist, Tantric, Witch” how do you view the world of mainstream perfumery? Is there any magic left in the corporate world of scent?

The beautiful thing about scent is that it is linked to our brain and connects to our memory. It is deeply connected to our emotional state and has an impact on our behavior whether we realize it or not. Once we have made a connection with it, scent can instantaneously transport us to times past and give us a feeling of comfort, arousal, love, hate, rage, etc. Scent can have positive effects on our mood, reduce stress, trigger arousal, increase self-confidence and much more. This is truly amazing and I believe that any scent whether hand crafted by a witch or artisan perfumer, or mass-produced in the corporate world, has the ability to effect people and trigger emotion or feelings within.

Rosarium Blends have a terrific selection in their Rosarium Blends online shop<<JUMP

Thank you so much, Catamara, for taking the time to enlighten us here at APJ. I am looking forward to reviewing your fragrances in a future post.
Azar

*All pictures donated by Rosarium Blends

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

beauty

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

HOW DID YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Carolyn Kubea

Willa

Sacred Frankincense 1 by JoAnne Bassett 2014 + Interview

Sacred Frankincense 1 by JoAnne Bassett 2014

The collection is Royal Alchemy Collection, the perfume is Sacred Frankincense 1

Making CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture Collection

Making CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture Collection

Making-of the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture Collection

The Architects Club by Yann Vasnier for Arquiste 2014

The Architects Club by Yann Vasnier for Arquiste 2014

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

My Perfume Samples – New Atomisers

My Perfume Samples – New Atomisers

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

Mohur Extrait by Bertrand Duchaufour

Moon Dust by MiN New York 2014

Moon Dust by MiN New York 2014

Catamara Rosarium of Rosarium Blends: Interview